There's a hole in the chicken coop, dear Liza, dear Liza...

Or, well, not exactly in the chicken coop--more rather in the ground that the coop is on. I just got a lovely little coop & run built by my father, delivered last week to my property. We put it in an old section of the garden that was a complete fail (too much shade & tree competition) figuring that would be a lovely location for a few chickens. The problem is that the coop is sitting over some former raised garden beds (not with solid walls, just mounded up), and I'd not realized that there are about 6" ditches between these beds that now make lovely tunnels right out of--or into--the coop. WHY I didn't realize this would happen is beyond me, but it's done now. So my question is--does anyone have suggestions for what to fill in these ditches with that the chickens, or any predators, won't just dig straight through? Should I just pack in a good amount of dirt? Suggestions?

My chicken coop has a dirt floor and no run. They free range during the day and are locked up at night.

The coop was built on uneven ground and to help fix this, we ran about 2 feet of hardware cloth along the ground around the whole coop with abt 6" of it bent up the sides and stapled to the coop.

In places where there is a significant difference, I will fill in with soil. I plan to place gravel over the hardware cloth which I hope will help me see if any critters are trying to dig their way in.

I know at some point in the future the hardware cloth will rust away and I'll have to deal with it again. But I'm hoping for at least 3 or 4 years out of it.

On the border of Zones 5 & 6 on the last 2 acres of what was once a large farm. Flat, flat and more flat!

Robyn Morton

Joined: Jun 09, 2010
Posts: 12
Location: Indiana

posted Jul 24, 2010 17:12:43

0

The hardware cloth is a great idea! Thank you!

Joined: Oct 23, 2011
Posts: 0

posted Jul 31, 2010 05:33:11

0

This hardware cloth idea sounds like it should work for you good luck.